I Love You Too, Mr Forman
by nannygirl
Summary: After her phone call to Eric, Jackie realizes there's someone else she has to talk to. Someone she loves and respects. Someone who's played an important role in her life. My take on Jackie and Red's phone conversation from episode 'Till the Next Goodbye'


_**Disclaimer: **I own nothing. Not the show. Not the characters. Not the episode that this story takes place in._

_**Author's Note: **Hello everyone! How are you? Hope you're doing well this Wednesday or whatever day your reading this story on. This is just a little something I came up with the other day—the idea actually first struck me when I was out Christmas shopping with my dad back in December and I really liked it so I kept it in mind and as soon as I got the chance to write it all out I did! This little oneshot is supposed to be a sort of 'deleted scene' from 'Till the Next Goodbye' from the end of season seven. The part with Jackie calling Eric to say goodbye to him was really sweet and funny (cream cheese parts gets me every time)and I kinda wished they had shown the phone conversation with Jackie and Red but they didn't. And that's okay because that's what fanfic is for! I really do hope you all enjoy it! Sorry it's shorter than my usual work but I didn't want things to drag on or put in any unnecessary things. Special thanks to MidniteRaine and Eliza Ghost for their encouragement to do this story! You guys rock! And a great big Thank you to Marla's Lost for her help on finding a title—seriously, tried to figure one out for almost five days then I send it to her and she's found some in only a few hours! You're awesome Marla! Okay I think this AN is getting alittle too long so I'll wrap things up now. Thanks for stopping by to read this story, hope you like! And please, Enjoy!_

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><p><strong>I Love You Too, Mr. Forman<strong>

"Dad, telephone!"

An immediate groan of annoyance escaped from Red Forman as he heard his son's call from lower level of the house.

_What dumbass was calling now?_ He wondered.

Wasn't it bad enough that he had to deal with the dumbasses that came into his shop when he was at work? It wasn't as if he got a break from dumbasses when he was home either, he had a whole load of them polluting his basement and coming up every hour or so to eat the food that _he_ paid for. And now just as he was about to make the third attempt of reading his newspaper, without getting interrupted, he gets a damn phone call. Wasn't that just _ducky_?

Knowing the sooner he answered the phone the sooner he could get rid of the moron and go back to his reading, Red pushed himself out of his kitchen chair and practically dragged himself over to the yellow wall phone.

He picked up the receiver and deepened his scowl, despite the fact that the person on the other line couldn't see it, and without even a 'Hello' gruffly asked, "Yeah, what do you want?"

"Hi, Mr. Forman." A soft feminine voice answered back.

"Jackie?" Red asked; he had instantly recognized the young girl's voice but wasn't used to hearing it—over the phone at least.

It took him a second or two but he soon did remember why she was calling instead of just coming over like the rest of the sweat-hogs. She wasn't in Point Place anymore. She'd left to Chicago already with the help of The King of the sweat-hogs. It was at that thought that the slightly shocked expression on Red's face disappeared and became replaced with his usual scowling frown.

"Ah jeeze…"he groaned with irritation before changing his tone to a much angrier one, "Did that kettlehead Kelso forget you and leave you stranded somewhere? Damn it! That idiot would lose his ass if it wasn't attached to him…"

Jackie jumped in midway through Red's rant, holding in a giggle as she tried to explain and ease Red's anger, "No Mr. Forman, Michael didn't forget me anywhere. He brought me all the way to Chicago. That's where I'm calling from. It's really a great place, there're so many tall buildings and everything moves at much faster pace and most importantly, there a lot more stores to shop at." She added in a cheery tone of voice, though it was clearly not as cheerful as the one she usually spoke in, something was missing.

"I think you'd like it." she commented but right away second guessed her words, "Well maybe not. There are a lot more people."

"Yeah, probably not." He said with a slight chuckle before swiftly changing back into protective father mode, "Where're you staying?"

Nervously the brunette looked around her surroundings. It wasn't any five star hotel but it didn't look like it had come straight from some sleazy horror movie either…still it probably wouldn't be a place that would be 'Red Forman Approved.'

She knew her answer was not going to him happy but at the same time didn't have it in her heart to lie to him, "At a motel."

"Jeeze you went with the motel? That's no place for a young girl like you to be staying alone…"

Jackie let out a heavy sigh that she made sure to breathe away from the mouth piece so not to attract Red's attention. She had already heard all of this the day before she left Point Place when she had stopped by the muffler shop to talk to Red about her plans of leaving to Chicago.

"But I'm not alone, Mr. Forman. Michael's dropped by a few times. It's really not that bad, I mean there's a TV and a…" She began to inform until suddenly she noticed something move on the table where the phone was resting and where she was sitting beside.

Curiously she leaned in closer to inspect whatever it was she saw move. It was about the size of a nickel…it was brown…and hairy…and had eight legs! It took all of her power to not let out any type of yelp as she shot off the wooden chair and onto her feet. Thinking quickly she grabbed the base of the telephone—being sure not to disturb 'Charlotte'—and sat herself down on the edge of the motel's bed, placing the base on her lap.

"And you know, nothing's permanent." She threw in, keeping her voice as steady as possible.

"Right." came Red's reply.

However he still wasn't a fan of her staying in that motel—whether the kettlehead was there or not. In fact, he'd rather have him not be there. The dumbass was known for causing trouble and the girl had gone through enough these past few months, she didn't need any more of it. And those seconds of silence that had passed moments ago did little to relieve any of Red's suspicions on the type of crap hole motel Jackie must have been staying at.

"Mr. Forman," Jackie started to say, "I wanted to talk to you because I wanted to tell you that…well, that I love you."

"Jackie, just tell me how much you need and I'll have it wired to you by tomorrow." He grumbled, but meaning what he'd said.

Smiling, Jackie shook her head, "It's okay, Mr. Forman, I don't need any money. I really just wanted to say that I love you." she paused for a moment, debating if she should go on; she took a deep breath as she made her decision, "And thank you for being like a second father to me especially since my dad went to prison, but even before then. You took the time to teach me how to change a tire…"

"A girl needs to know what to do in an emergency." Red interjected with the reminder that made Jackie's grin grow.

"There's a lot of other stuff that you've helped me with over the years and I want you to know that it really means a lot." she went on to say, then as she moved in her seat, she changed her voice to one that was even more sincere than before, "And I'm sorry that we weren't on the best of terms when I left. I know you were just looking out for me and wanted to make sure I was safe over here. Thank you for that too."

"Yeah well…"Red cleared his throat out of habit, "I have to make sure anytime one of you kids leaves that you're going somewhere that's safe and good for you."

Jackie continued to grin as she heard Red's words; she always knew he saw all of them as his own children. Every time he referred to them as 'dumbasses' you could almost hear the hint of 'My kids' concealed behind it.

While Jackie was busy thinking about hidden messages, Red wasn't quite done with his statement and he continued with what he had to say, bringing Jackie back to reality as he spoke. "Don't want you turning up back in my basement a few weeks later."

The smile on Jackie's lips didn't fade one bit and if anything grew a tiny bit more.

"Don't worry Mr. Forman, I don't think I'll be coming back anytime soon." she assured though as she said the words her voice became a tad bit more somber and her smile turned into a sadder one.

Silence came from both ends of the line. Jackie twirled her finger in the stretchy, spiral cord of the phone as she seemed to have lost herself in thoughts of why she wouldn't be returning home. Why she didn't want to go back there. Why she'd left in the first place.

Meanwhile, Red may not have been lost in any of his thoughts but he felt lost as he tried to think of something to say. He hated this kind of emotional crap and he hated talking on the phone. But he didn't hate The Loud One. After all, she was the only friend of Eric's that he actually liked and could stand—she may talk _a lot_ but she could find the u-joint of a car in mere minutes. Red knew what a rough time she was going through these past few weeks—thanks to the ramblings of his wife and the thin walls of his house—and was probably wanting some support and to hear some type of reassurance. And she sure as hell wasn't going to get any of that from her convict father or that ditz of a mother she had.

"You know Jackie," he began to say, shifting himself slightly, "what you're doing, going out there to make something of yourself, being on your own in some strange, big city, that…that takes a lot of courage. Courage you've got. Courage I admire."

Jackie's smile reappeared and she found herself feeling a little better about things, "Thanks Mr. Forman."

"He's a dumbass you know." Red commented out of the blue.

They both knew who _he_ was; there was no need to say his name.

"No, he's not, Mr. Forman." She shook her head, though her tone told of how she really wanted to agree with him.

"Yes, he is. You and I both know it." Red argued keeping his voice stern, "He may be a good kid most of the time but other times that inner dumbass of his comes shinning through. Probably from spending all his time around those other dumbasses."

A light but genuine laugh filled Red's ears and became his cue to continue on with what he needed to say.

"And I'm not saying he's gonna realize he made the biggest mistake of his life by letting you go and then take off over there to try and win you back." He made sure to clear up, his right hand open and raised in a halting position while his left gripped onto the receiver, "But I'm not saying he won't do any of that either. All I'm saying is, being in love with a dumbass is a challenging thing. Just ask Kitty."

Once again Jackie's grin grew a few more centimeters, "Thanks, Mr. Forman. I think I better go now, I still have to finish unpacking and I'm sure I'm keeping you from something."

"Oh right, yeah." Red agreed with a nod, "I need to get Eric to clean the gutters before he leaves for Africa."

Jackie held in a laugh at the lame excuse Red came up with, yet did nothing to contain her rising smile. It was sweet. He didn't want to hang up any more than she did.

"Thanks again Mr. Forman. For everything."

"Yeah. Listen Jackie, because I'm only gonna offer this once." He explained to her before clearing his throat once again this time doing it to make sure his voice sounded as gruff and firm as possible, "If you want me to, I'll go down to the basement right now and kick his ass until he comes to his senses about letting you go to Chicago."

With her eyes faintly shinning with unshed tears Jackie titled her head to left, the same side where she was holding the green receiver, and smiled an even larger smile.

"I love you too, Mr. Forman."

**The End**

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><p><em><strong>Author's Note:<strong> So what did you think? Good? Bad? Five stars? Two Stars? No stars and just a raspberry? Please lemme know what you thought in a review. It will mean so very much._

_And hey! Just realized now this is my 50th Fan Fiction! May not be my 50th T7S fanfic but I think it still calls for some celebration! So whether you review or not you get a piece of party cake! But if you do review be sure on your way over there you grab a great big piece of celebration cake! :D_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, take care, and have a nice day!_


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